A collection of lost Gaelic words is being revived in a new book almost 130 years after they were first recorded.

Artist and writer Catriona Black has revisited works by Father Allan Macdonald, a 19th century priest, poet, and folklorist, who recorded the Gaelic words and phrases used in homes on Eriskay and South Uist in the 1890s.

'Riobag Shonais' - the hair of good fortune which refers to the straggling long hair growing on a woman's chin. PIC: Catriona Black.

They were later edited into a dictionary, published in 1958, which is now out of print.

“So often Gaelic is portrayed as the language of the empty glens and moors but that has never been what it has been for me.”

Storradh - to force or strongy press something on a person when they don't really want it, such as food. PIC: Catriona Black.

Her favourite words include ‘mionagadanan’ which describes the particles seen in a ray of sunlight coming into a house.

Meanwhile, ‘glaigeil’ describes the noise that women make when they get together.

Ms Black, who now lives in the Netherlands, spoke Gaelic as a child in Edinburgh with her father a scholar of the language.

Ronnie Black was also the Gaelic editor of The Scotsman for many years.

Mabladh - the awkward chewing such as a toothless old man would make. PIC: Catriona Black.

A programme on Ms Black’s visit to Eriskay will be broadcast by BBC Alba on October 30.

She said: “I was taken around the homes of some of the older native speakers and from 50 words, only around 20 were recognised. Some of them are still going strong but many others have fallen out of use.”

The word ‘sgionc’ translates as forcing something that’s too big into a small aperture or hole, such as a cork too big for a bottle.

One woman in Eriskay remembered it being used to describe squeezing into a dress that was too small.

“When that came back to her, the word was so alive again,” Ms Black added.

The words collated by Father Macdonald were later edited into a dictionary, Gaelic Words and Expressions from South Uist and Eriskay, by John Lorne Campbell.

Artist and writer Catriona Black who has brough together a collection of forgotten Gaelic words. PIC: Contributed.

It is a dictionary she has read several times, from cover to cover.

Ms Black said: “Every language is different and every language can do things that others can’t.

“When you live on a place like Eriskay, when your world is quite limited, you pay attention to tiny details and you value your interactions with other people.

“For me, Gaelic is about people, and communication, and collective feeling, and that’s what I really want to bring out in this collection of words. I really want it to appeal to those who speak to Gaelic - and those who don’t.”

Sly Cooking: 42 irresistible Gaelic words, €5.95, will be launched at An Lanntair, Stornoway, on October 28.

Forradh: Sly Cooking, an exhibition of Ms Black’s linocuts, will show at the same venue until November 22.